Nomad People

Nomad Tanzania is our people. Many of us have been together since the beginning, more than 20 years ago.

Our family of staff is core to our success and we are incredibly fortunate to have such a special bunch of folk at Nomad. In a business like ours there are very many cogs that keep the wheel turning, and we think it is important that the background folk are never taken for granted. We want to make sure stories are heard, achievements are recognised, and that our team have every opportunity they deserve to climb within the company. There are a hundred tales to tell, from our wonderful Mama Ali who must be on her 100,000th cup of coffee, to members of our team who have risen through the ranks from camp builders to managers. We are endlessly inspired by them, and we are delighted to be able to share their stories with you.

Keeping the Nomad wheels on for 20 years

As so often in life, it’s the people in the background that really keep the show on the road

Northern Guides

Ali Kea

Ali is one of our many success stories. Having grown up near Arusha, he joined Nomad back in 1999 - a young man with no experience under his belt. Over the years he has worked across Tanzania's different national parks, and finally achieved his dream of joining the prestigious ranks of the Nomad Northern Guides. He has aspirations still of becoming a world class guide, and we think he's well on his way.

Ali loves all his wild places but Mahale and the chimps are particularly close to his heart, attracted to the remoteness of the area. One of our most friendly guides, Ali is known for his affable personality. He has many a tale of elephant antics and bucket showers, and he is bound to put a smile on your face and keep it there.

Anael Makyao

Anael was born and raised in the Kilimanjaro region. He had a simple up-brining, with his mother teaching in the local school and his father working for the government as a surveyor. Anael’s first taste of the wild was a school trip to Mount Meru Game Sanctuary back in the 80’s where he saw anteaters, buffalos, and even a chimp up close for the first time. Fascinated by these creatures, and inspired by their guide at the time, Anael set his heart on a safari based career.

Fresh out of guiding school, Anael’s first stop was Nomad, where he spent a few months guiding during peak season before working for other companies and building up many years of experience. Eventually Anael found his way back to the Nomad family and took his spot in the Northern Guide fleet.

Anael is happiest in the wilder parts of Tanzania, so a Chada Katavi safari is guaranteed to put a smile on his face. Keen on animal behaviour, he loves keeping track of the different prides and groups of wildlife he comes across on his game drives.

Chediel Mnzavu

Chediel, or Chedi as he's known, is one of the brightest stars of the Nomad guide stable. He's been with Nomad since the old Nomad Safari Guide days of 1999 and is one of our most experienced guides; and rarely without a smile on his face.

He has travelled all over Tanzania, with his many safari followers, and loves to be away from a vehicle and heading across country on foot. For him, it's not just about the big five, he is just as happy showing off cool beetles and bugs that cross his path.

David Mboya

David was born in Arusha, and is from the Maasai Tribe. He was educated in Kenya and from an early age kwne he wanted to be a professional safari guide. On finishing his secondary education, he carried on with his studies, faining Tour Guiding qualifications in Tanzania. He then went on to work as a guide with small Tanzanian safari companies, operating mainly in the north, before joining Nomad. He's quickly become a popular guide with us, he loves meeting different guests and showing them his favourite places on safari.

Emmanuel Mosha

Emmanuel is from the Kilimanjaro region where he was born and brought up. His father was a businessman and his mother was a teacher, and Emmanuel studied at a mission school. Originally, he planned to enter the priesthood but something changed his mind and he ended up training as a teacher. But he worried about his prospects in that profession and a friend who was in the safari world, suggested that perhaps he might be able to teach in a different way. As his latent safari lessons at school where they taught about acceleration, and as an example, a picture of a cheetah was stuck on the wall. Every day he saw that picture and wondered about it. Perhaps that was the trigger to his future career?

There was no instant transformation to become a guide, though, and Emmanuel put himself to work as a waiter, and studied for a year at the Mt Meru School, read all the books he could find and went on all the guide training that Nomad offered. He found he was naturally interested in, and good with, people and his curiosity about the natural world drove him to learn more. Even now he says that the thing he most enjoys about his work is that he is constantly learning, both from the many different people from all walks of life that he meets. He is both a teacher and a student these days. Emmamuel’s special place is Katavi which he describes as an area of undiscovered potential

Emmanuel Njawa

Emmanuel has a very interesting background, althouhg much of it is on a 'need to know basis' as he is always telling us. Born in western Tanzania, after finishing his studies, Emmanuel joined the Tanzanaian Department of Security and Intellidence, holiding down a very '"interesting" 17-year career there [one we admit we know nothing about due to the aforementioned reasons].

Eventually tiring of an office life, he did a complete about-face and in 1994 embarked on a guide training course. He then spent the next few years trekking up and down Kilimanjaro as a mountain guide. The bush, and ground level, called and he moved to the Selous working as an addistant lodge manager at the old Sand Rivers camp. When Sand Rivers joined Greystoke, Chada and the Serengeti Safari Camos in the merger that then became Nomad Tanzania, Emmanuel came along for the ride.

He is now one of our most senior guides and his infectious - and easily identifiable laugh - is a welcome sound on his visits to HQ. HE loves the small things on safari, as well as the large; he os fascinated by botany, insects and birds, althoug watching a family of elephants or wild dofs will make his day.

Felix John

Felix John joined Nomad in 2003, after spending years in the safari industry prior. He started out with us as a junior guide, but very quickly rose through the ranks to be up amongst our senior guides.

Felix loves the bush, he says he's never wanted to be anywhere else. He's hugely enthusiastic about everything he does, and he has the most infectious smile. Now in his late 30s, he's busy out on safari most of the time. He is a knowledgeable and experienced guide who knows the Serengeti eco-system extremely well. He enjoys the off-the-beaten track safaris, and sharing his love of the bush with his guests who always have a great time.

Festo Msoffe

Festo Msoffe was born in the shadow of the Pare Mountains close to Kilimanjaro. With the bush all around, it was no wonder really that he chose a career that would enable him to live in it.

He spent his early days working as a Game Scout with the Tanzania Wildlife Department, involved in their anti-poaching and game control work in the northern Selous. It was here that he met Richard Bonham who was then leading his portered walking safaris into the remoter parts of the reserve. Festo became Richard's chief guide and scout and was one of the first Sand Rivers Selous guides when the lodge opened in 1995.

He helped to pioneer the Selous Walking safaris, and still prefers being on foot over a vehicle. He now spends much of his time in the northern circuit and is one of our most senior guides.

Geoffrey Manangwa

Geoffrey was brought up at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro (which he is proud to have summited) and has spent most of his adult life guiding guests around northern Tanzania’s best wildlife areas. He is married with three children, the eldest of which is studying sociology at college. Geoffrey’s particular passions while out on safari are cats and primates, which he will happily spend hours watching. He appreciates the small wonders of the bush too, and once diverted his game drive from lion watching to witness two snakes try to consume the same frog. This episode ended badly when the smaller snake ended up getting swallowed too. Geoffrey brings his linguistic skills to our guiding team, caring for our French-speaking guests, and particularly enjoys taking families out for an adventure.

Gabriel Mushi

A rising young star in Nomad’s elite guiding team, Gabriel is one of the reasons Nomad Tanzania was awarded third place on the continent for guiding.

Born and raised on the lower slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Gabriel has never been far from the bush. Following his secondary schooling, he attended college to study Wildlife Management.

His next step was Nomad Tanzania, where he guided in the Mahale Mountains National Park for two years before making the move to Katavi where he was one of Chada’s top guides. From Chada he moved on to Lamai where he's looking forward to guiding guests around yet another completely different environment. Gabriel is best known for his humour, intense appreciation for all creatures great and small, and his depth of knowledge.

Godwin Urioh

Born in northern Tanzania, and having attended tourism college in Arusha, Godwin found himself starting out as a waiter in the far south in Sand Rivers Selous. Quickly finding his interest and passion in this beautiful park, Godwin completed guide training and quickly became an integral member of the camp guiding team. Godwin’s ambitions led him to strive for the much coveted badge of a Northern Guide, and he joined the team in 2008. Since then, he’s been delighting in developing his knowledge and understanding of wildlife, becoming particularly fascinated by the little things of the bush. Godwin is very much at home in the bush, so much so that he often enjoys exploring on foot when he gets a chance to give his four wheels a rest.

Ian Kiwelu

Ian was born in the highlands of Kilimanjaro - looking at the towering mountain every day on his way to school. He always wanted to become a field guide, following in the footsteps of his brother. After finishing his schooling firstly in Tanzania, and later in Kenya, he went to tourism college. With his impressive language skills, fluent in Italian and Spanish as well as English and his native languages, Ian landed himself his first role as an interpreter on Mt Kilimanjaro climbs. This didnt just put his brain to work, but also his legs, alll in all he has climed 'Kili' more than 40 times. With itchy feet, and looking for a new challenge, he headed south and began working in the Selous as a field guide where he bumped into Richard Knocker. Here started his career with Nomad and he quickly moved into our Northern guiding team where he has been ever since.

Masaa John

Masaa's story is simple. A Kilimanjaro boy from Masaailand, Masaa always knew he wanted to be a safari guide. He climbed to the top of 'Kili' on 30 separate occasions before the age of 30. He completed his guide training in Kenya, then found his way to Nomad, and joined the team in Sand Rivers Selous. He's always loved the northern circuit, so it took no persuading to get him into the Serengeti where he's now one of our Northern Guides. He is full of knowledge, not just on the wildlife, but also the history of the people and culture of the communities that live around the Serengeti. Masaa is our go-to man for insights into the ways of the Maasai and is a great story-teller.

Nathan Losaru

Nathan has led a very diverse life. After finishing his education, he trained to be a Nursing Officer in Dar es Salaam. After 4 years he started to yearn for the great outdoors and went to work for a mountain climbing company, leading to his climbing Kilimanjaro over 50 times!

Eventually coming down off the slopes, he realised that it was the bush life that he wanted to pursue, after a short stint as an Arusha trainee guide. He joined Nomad in 1999 as a cook (another skill he picked up along the way), then became the headman at one of our mobile Serengeti camps. In 2005 he joined Nomad's annual guide training event, and that was it. He started out at Sand Rivers Selous but it didnt take long before he was guiding full-time in the Northern Circuit and now knows he is exactly where he is meant to be. Nathan also runs our Serengeti and migration updates on social media and is our go-to man for the latest news on the ground.

Philip Pendaeli

Philip is from Momella near Arusha National Park and he joined Nomad early in his career, initially as a waiter, in 2004. While working in Sand Rivers Selous, he developed a passionate interest in the wildlife and environment around him and began to study. After jumping the usual rigorous training hurdles, he initially joined the guiding team in Sand Rivers, moving on later to Katavi, Mahale, and then Lamai. Having gathered a significant amount of experience across so many Tanzanian parks, he made the natural progression to become a Nomad northern guide in 2012.

Philip is a real bush-lad and particularly loves his birds. He also grew very fond of the elephant family in Chada, amazing everyone with his apparent ability to communicate with them.

Remtullah Nassary

Rem, as he is known to all here, was born and grew up in Momella, on the slopes of Mt Meru. He is now at the top of his safari profession - as a walking guide - but he came up through the ranks from the very bottom. He worked with Roland & Zoe Purcell (founders of Greystoke Mahale and Chada Katavi) for many years, starting out as a cook and then a tracker.

He stayed with Nomad Tanzania after the merger in 2003, and then got into the serious business of full-time guiding. From early on, he was very clear where his passion lay - walking safaris. He was a general Nomad guide for 3 years, and then moved down to Sand Rivers where he made the famous walking safaris his own. You'll now find him up in the northern circuit, on foot as much as he can be.

Rowland Ngowi

Rowland was born on the lofty heights of Kilimanjaro where he enjoyed his childhood, before completing his education in Kenya. An unsurprisingly brief career working in insurance was the precursor to a life spent doing what he loves - being out in the bush.

He joined Nomad Safari Guides back in 1998 and has been part of the company ever since. Rowland is generally pretty quiet, but don't let that fool you; there is nothing that he doesn't know about the bush and everything in it and once he starts laughing, he doesn't stop! He knows northern Tanzania like the back of his hand and doesn't miss a thing.

Sylvanus Mbise

Sylvanus is an Arusha lad, born and raised here in Northern Tanzania. His father was a teacher and his mother tended their family farm while they put Sylvanus and his siblings through school. Encouraged by his highly practical father, he initially trained at a technical college where he learned all sorts of artisanal crafts such as masonry, mechanics and plumbing. That’s how he first joined Nomad, as a “fundi” working at Sand Rivers Selous, and this is where the natural world first attracted his interest.

He returned to Arusha and decided to take a bit of a change in direction and pursue a career in guiding, which he did initially with Mt Meru Tour Guides, and then shortly after with Nomad. His first step was as a transfer driver but it quickly became evident that he had the makings of a natural guide. He moved to Chada Katavi where he cut his teeth in one of the wildest parks in Tanzania, and spent the wet season helping the guiding teams in the Serengeti and Selous. In 2010 he became a permanent Northern guide, although he’s fond of those areas of Tanzania where he started out.

Wilfred (Kakae) Saiteu

Wilfred, athough some guests may remember him as Kakae, has traveled from the top of the mountains of Greystoke Mahale to the wide Rufiji of Sand Rivers Selous, and then up to the far north of the Serengeti and Lamai. There is very little of Tanzania's national parks that he hasn't passed through.

Kakae has led a interesting life and we are always learning something new when we get him talking. With a degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management to his name, Kakae found a job working with Norwegian geologists carrying out 'Limnology Studies' at Lake Natron. Every evening they would sit around the fire telling stories of African and European cultures and their respective wildlife, and the more Kakae spoke of his love for the Tanzania wilderness, the more he realized there was a lot more to life than brine and sodium carbonate!

He's been guiding for Nomad for a number of years now, fascinating all our Greystoke guests with his general knowledge and passion for the chimps. His move to the Selous allowed him to experience a very different area and type of wildlife and we're delighted that he remains part of the Nomad family in the Serengeti.

Guides

Amos Noah

Amos comes from a modest background. Born into a farming family in Arusha, Amos developed a love for the outdoors and an appreciation for the environment from an early age. He studied wildlife management, as well as French and Spanish, and was soon putting his studies into practice when he became a ranger, and later a guide, for safari companies around Arusha. He joined Nomad in 2013 and has since worked in 4 of our main camps. His highlight of being a Nomad guide is witnessing the migrating wildebeest herds crossings the River Mara.

Butati Nyundo

Butati has a long history with the Mahala National Park. Born in the area, and with a father who was part of the original Japanese chimpanzee research project, iIt isn't surprising that Butati has such a passion for chimpanzees and the Mahale Mountains. Butati studied Wildlife Management, has been both a ranger and a guide, and now is one of Nomad’s leading chimpanzee experts. Behind his cheeky smile, Butati has a wealth of knowledge of the flora and fauna of Mahale, which he is only too willing to share. While his family live in the village of Katumbi, on the edge of the park, Butati’s surrogate family is the clan of chimpanzees found around Greystoke. His closeness with them extends from their names down to their individual characters. Following the dramas of the chimp community is one of Butati’s highlights of working in Greystoke, keeping up with the latest primate politics constantly keeps him on his toes.

Filbert Mbise

Born and brought up in his hometown of Arusha, Filbert has been surrounded by the bustle of the safari business most of his life. He decided at a young age that this was the path for him, and he took himself off to college where he studied to be a guide. When he qualified in 2011, he was among the lucky few who found himself with a coveted position as a guide at Greystoke Mahale. Filbert relished the remoteness and beauty of the Mahale Mountains, where he could indulge in his special interests of birding, studying the chimps and a little light fishing on the side. Never turning down a challenge, he is now based in the Serengeti, moving with our mobile Serengeti Safari Camps.

Lazaro George

Lazaro comes from Momella village where he was born in 1969. He originally joined Nomad as a carpenter and stonemason, but showed such enthusiasm and potential for guideing, that after some training, he soon jumped ship and joined the Nomad guiding team. Lazaro has spent time in Chada Katavi, Greystoke Mahale, and the Sand Rivers family in Selous. Having gained much expereince and exposure to Tanzania's different parks, he has now wound his way to the Serengeti, based in Lamai. He is passionate about our beautiful Tanzanian wilderness and we are fortunate to have Lazaro on our team.

Matius Nelson

Matius was born into a fishing family in the town Kigoma, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. He made his way to Mahale where he started working for the Japanese research centre. Here he worked alongside the father to one of our Nomad guides in the Japanese research centre, and now works with his son Butati in Greystoke. His passion for the chimps and the magical Mahale mountains has grown over the years.

He started with Nomad in 2011 as a ‘tracker’ navigating the forested foothills of the Mahale Mountains in search of the chimps. Now he is one of our Greystoke guides and loves the opportunity to share his passion for this unique corner of the world with our guests.

Mussa Charles

Mussa is one of our most experienced guides. Under his belt, he has 10 years in the tourism industry, two FGASA (Field Guide Association of Southern Africa) qualifications obtained at Madikwe Game Reserve, and also time spent in Kenya studying with other guides in the Maasai Mara, where they studied everything from big mammals to lobster ink. He loves all wildlife, but is particularly interested in birds, and sharing it all with his guests.

Mwiga Mambo

As a 16 year old Mwiga was inspired by Jane Goodall – today, he’s one of Africa’s leading primatology guides. Mwiga has twenty years experience with Nomad, all at Greystoke Mahale. His family was local royalty – his maternal grandfather was a well-respected Tongwe chief and his grandmother was born in a village not far from where Greystoke now sits. Mwiga was brought up with stories of the chimpanzees. His mother spoke of them often and both his uncle and father worked with the primatologists from Kyoto University. In fact, his father introduced Professor John Ichiro Itan to the Mahale population of chimps and his uncle was one of the trackers who helped to habituate the M-Group.

At 16 years of age he met Jane Goodall who came to give a talk at his school, and received a prize from her for his exceptional knowledge of, and picture of a chimp. With such pedigree, and his insatiable curiosity, Mwiga was always going to become one of Mahale’s top guides. He had to start from the bottom though, and originally joined Roland and Zoe Purcell as a waiter and housekeeper at Greystoke, when the camp was still tents on our remote beach. Eventually he managed to get out into the forest as a tracker where he spent blissful days following one group after the other as they traversed the forest, observing unique behaviour and learning the individual characteristics. He still finds that each day with the chimps brings new discoveries and, as he says, he is a full-time student at the best primate university in the world.

Over the last few years Mwiga has been a wonderful ambassador for Nomad, and the chimps of Mahale, travelling to Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila in 2016, and to the USA in 2017 and 2018 giving presentations to clients about life in Mahale. Having never left Tanzania beforehand, he has even recently returned from a trip to Virunga National Park in the Congo to meet the gorilla's.

Robert John Matandiko

Robert was born and brought up in Mwanza and initially trained as a teacher, before moving to Arusha where he became interested in tourism. He set out in a new direction, initially as a mountain guide. Having tested his mettle on Kilimanjaro for a year, he then joined the Nomad camp crew where he learned the ins and outs of caring for guests in our remote places. Eager to develop his skills, Robert put himself through guide college, and was accepted for Nomad guide training in 2007. Since then, he’s traveled throughout Tanzania and has experience in all the main parks, but is not based in Lamai Serengeti.

Paulo Siololo

Paulo was born in northern Tanzania and grew up surrounded by the bush. Curious about animal behaviour, when he was younger he would sit for hours watching and studying the movements of different creatures in the wild, infact not much has changed. Paulo joined Nomad in 2007 and became a guide with Nomad in 2009. His passion for wildlife means he’s always hankering to be out exploring, and his newly developed interest in photography ensures he’s always in the best spot for a picture.

John Hipolite

John joined Nomad over a decade ago as a carpenter in Sand Rivers Selous. His is quite the success story of up-skilling and on-the-job training, after a few years in the workshop busy making camp furniture and alike, John moved into a camp waiter role in Sand Rivers and Chada Katavi, and later progressed to become head waiter in Lamai Serengeti. He didn't stop there and some years on he was hosting in our mobile Serengeti camps. Finally he settled down as camp manager of Serengeti Safari Camp, following the great migration over the open plains and sharing this magical experience with guests from across the globe. John is now a fully fledged Nomad guide and is enjoying his first season guiding from Chada Katavi.

Samwel Turoto

Samwel was brought up in a traditional Maasai village called Arash, in southern Loliondo with his five sisters and two brothers. He now has a fiancée and a young son of his own. After completing secondary school, Samwel did a wildlife management course in Arusha which set him up to start work with as a field guide for a travel company that specializes in walking trips. During this, and his subsequent job, Samwel was based in his home territory of Loliondo, which he knew well from his days as a young warrior out in the bush. Later on, Samwel went on to join another company where his guiding work took him further afield, and finally he settled back with Nomad. He has guided for Nomad right across the length and breadth of Tanzania for many years, managed Nduara Loliondo in the green season, and Chada Katavi in the dry season.

In the future, Sammy’s keen on studying further and perhaps getting his diploma in wildlife management but for the moment he’s guiding full time in our wild corner of the Crater rim at Entamanu Ngorongoro.

Rajabu

Rejabu hails from Arusha in Northern Tanzania and started out with Nomad as one of our chefs in Serenegti Safari Camp. Rejabu loves the Serengeti and has enjoyed working in both our mobile camps and in Lamai as a chef, then a transfer driver and finally the manager of our Serengeti Safari Camp.

Rejabu has a real love for the wide-open spaces of the Serengeti and enjoys nothing more an evening of camp tales around the fire with guests from all over the world. But, his one goal was to become a guide. We engaged him Nomad guide training and he now guides full time from Kuro Tarangire which he is absolutely loving.

Ernest

Ernest was born in Pangani on the Tanzanian coast, but now lives close to Kilimanjaro. He has been guiding since 2010 and before that was a scout in northern Tanzania for three years. Before working for Nomad Ernest worked on the anti-poaching unit as a ranger from 1997 to 2007. Since his time with Nomad he has been guiding full time in the Selous and is loved by the team and guests alike for his energy, smile, dedication and incredible knowledge. He has a particular interest in birds and is fantastic with any clients who want to get into birding while on safari with us. A huge highlight of his career in the bush has been encountering rhino in the Serengeti. Having worked on anti-poaching the plight of the rhino is very close to his heart and seeing them in the wild will never get boring.

Godfrey

Godfrey was born in Arusha where his family now lives. He started to guide for Nomad in 2017, but before that he was working with us as waiter from since 2010. He trained first as a scout and soon showed his skills in the bush so we were delighted for him to embark on his guides training and begin his career guiding. His greatest sighting was actually when he was a waiter in Mahale, where there is a rather infamous story of two leopard chasing each other and jumping over the waiter at the sunset bar...that waiter was Godfrey!!!

Hamadi

Hamadi hails from western Tanzania and the small town of Tabora, although he now lives in Panda in the West of Tanzania. Hamadi worked as a ranger for 18 years (1986 to 2004) with 16 of those spent in one of Tanzania's wildest parks - Katavi National Park. He then began his career working for Nomad as a scout in 2006 in the Selous, before doing his training and beginning to guide in 2014. Hamadi is one of very few lucky folk to see a pangolin in Katavi, and that will always be etched in his memory as a very exciting sighting.

Elisante

Elisante grew up near the slopes of Mt Meru. Elisante started working in tourism early in his life, even in Zanzibar at the Breezes Beach Club, but soon the bush called him back to the mainland. After being introduced to Richard Knocker, Elisante found himself in the Nomad Family.

He join Nomad in 2008 as a waiter in Sand Rivers. Soon after he moved to our various camps as a waiter including Serengeti Safari Camp, Chada Katavi and Greystoke Mahale before moving back to Arusha to become a transfer driver.

After spending more time on four wheels with guests, he decided this was definitely his passion and he now guides in Kigelia Ruaha. Elisante has a passion for Tanzania’s national animal the giraffe and leopard.

Hussein

Hussein was born in the coastal town of Tanga. His father worked for the Tanzanian railway therefore the family was always on the move, so he was able to do his secondary education in Dar es Salaam which he proceeded to follow with his college education in guiding. Hussein was inspired by his cousin who was a guide in the Northern part of Tanzania, and his knowledge for the wild made Hussien want to follow in his footsteps. Starting in the Selous Impala camp as a guide Hussein quickly realized he has found his calling in the guiding world.

Hussein often bumped in to fellow Nomad Guide Ian Kiwelu in the Selous and it was just as well for Nomad that he did, as this was how Hussein came to be with us. Hussein started in the Selous that he already knew so well as his first post for Nomad, before moving to Kigelia and Katavi. Hussein has a great passion for wildlife in general but especially birds which is why he is so well fitted to be in Kigelia Ruaha.

Joseph Welwel

Joseph was born in Karatu and was schooled there. After school he went to hotel management college in Karatu after being encouraged by his parents to do this. After his course finished he worked in Kudu Lodge for two years as a waiter and then went on to become the restaurant supervisor. Soon after he came to Arusha to work in the African tulip hotel as the head waiter.

Jo then applied for the waiter position at Nomad and with, his charm and great smile he soon found himself working in our light mobile camp as a waiter followed by manager of our mobile camps for two seasons. He then went to Chada for two seasons as our head waiter. In 2016 Joseph joined our guiding team, staying in Chada as he knew this park so well. Joseph has a firm love of Katavi but his heart could be stolen by Mahale. Joseph also has a big love for the cheetah and it’s something that really pulls in his heart strings.

Jairo

Jairo started his career with Nomad over 10 years ago, and has since followed his dream and has become a guide. He has worked in a few Nomad camps, but predominantly so, in Ruaha National Park at Kigelia and in the Serengeti National Park at Lamai, where he is currently based. He has a huge passion for wildlife and can always be found searching for wildlife along the Mara River.

Joel

Joel started his Nomad career in 2008 as a waiter at our Chada camp in Katavi National Park. Being so comfortable and confident around guests, it didn’t take him long to became a transfer driver, before becoming a guide in 2013 in the Selous Game Reserve. After a year of guiding in the wilds of the Selous, he moved to Ruaha National Park and became one of the top guides at Kigelia Ruaha. One of the most enjoyable parts of the job for him is meeting people from around the world and exchanging different ideas on different topics. Currently, Joel is based in Northern Serengeti at our Lamai Serengeti and is loving the new experience.

Emanuel Elias

Emanuel started working for Nomad Tanzania 10 years ago. He started off his career at Sand Rivers in the Selous and worked there for 6 years before moving to Katavi National Park. There in Katavi, he fell in love with the dramatic dry seasons and huge numbers of Buffalo and Hippo. After three years in Chada, he moved to Northern Serengeti where he is now based. He has really enjoyed the last ten years and loves moving around and working in different National Parks. For him, it is the best way to become intimate with different parts of Tanzania and a wonderful way to learn about your country.

Ben, Entamanu Ngorongoro

Ben was born in Tanzania, but together with his four siblings, spent most of their young lives in Zambia where his father was practicing as a Doctor, mostly running eye clinics for rural communities. When Ben was in his mid-teens, the family returned to southern Tanzania where they settled. After finishing school, Ben’s first jobs were as a driver and mechanic for logging companies and, finding he had a strong practical streak, he decided to study mechanics further.

A friend of Ben’s father from the States moved to Kenya and set up an NGO and a safari company. Ben was invited to join the NGO where he was involved in distributing food aid, building schools and drilling boreholes in western Kenya. He then found his way into the safari side of things and spent some time building a camp in the Maasai Mara and going on to run it. He took a number of tourism management and guiding courses to bolster his knowledge and found he had a way with people. His gentle presence and winning smile are always a treat.

Ben joined Nomad in early 2016 to help us prepare for the opening of our latest and very special camp on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. He has overseen many aspects of the creation of this camp and feels a strong sense of ownership for it. He tries not to be smug about the view from his office.

Eric, Lamai Serengeti

Eric, born in Kenya and raised in the Tanzanian bush, is the son of an archeologist and an anthropologist. Eric’s early years were spent primarily in the bush, immersed in nature, but when his parents realised that he could only speak Kiswahili at the age of 7, they decided to send him to boarding schools abroad. After finishing his studies in the United States and Australia, Eric returned to his home in Tanzania and worked in his father’s Safari Company.

In early 2016, Eric joined the Nomad family and became the manager of Sand Rivers, in the Selous Game Reserve for two years, before making Northern Serengeti his temporary home earlier this year as he manages Lamai.

Julien, Relief Manager

Julien was born in Brussels and spent much of his early years in Waterloo. His mother's side of the family are all farmers and this is where his love of the outdoors and nature stemmed. As a wee lad he sent most of his time playing at the Hougoumont Farm, which was actually the headquarters of Wellington during the battle of Waterloo.

After his school years in Belgium Julien set off for Australia. Here he stayed as an exchange student with a geologist who took him deep into the outback and being in the wilderness got under his skin, and strengthened his love of nature. He wasn’t quite ready to vanish into the wilds just yet though and set off for France where he embarked on a very successful acting career.

After three years on stage nature was calling to him again. Julien’s father, who is a doctor, happened to have operated on a safari lodge owner who mentioned he was looking for someone to take care of his lodge for a couple of months. Julien had two months off from acting and before he knew it he was in Tarangire. immersed in the wild again. Two months turned into two years and some.

Julien has a keen interest in the birds of Tanzania, and is a fantastic photographer. His enthusiasm and energy for life and Tanzania’s wild places is infectious and we are so pleased that he is part of our Nomad family. He currenlty works all over the country in our camps as our relief manager, covering for the permanent managers when they go on leave.

Ken, Kigelia Ruaha

Kennedy, know as Ken, has been part of the Nomad family since early 2000. He came on board as a guide at Sand Rivers Selous where he spent much of his time leading walking safaris. Having come out of one of Tanzania's top private guiding colleges, it was no surprise that he proved such a hit and became one of the lodge's top guides in what is a very demanding safari environment.

Moving back up to northern Tanzania, where all his family are based, and working more in the Serengeti eco-system with Nomad Safari Guides, further honed his game driving and guiding skills.

He's hugely popular with our guests and over the years has worked in all of our Nomad camps. Keen to take on a new challenge he is now managing our Kigelia camp, a perfect fit since Ruaha is his favourite park in Tanzania, followed closely by Katavi. Ken loves these parks for their remoteness, being the only vehicle at a sighting and feeling as though he has a slice of Africa to himself and his lucky guests.

Lawrence, Serengeti Safari Camp

Lawrence joined Nomad in 2011 and found it to be a refreshing change from the larger hotels where he began his management career. Born and raised in the little village of Usa River near Arusha, Lawrence was exposed to the African travel business from his early years. A professional hunter by trade, his father often used to bring his friends from all over the world home and Lawrence enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life and various nationalities, and hearing their stories. As he grew older, he would help his parents entertain and found he had a knack for delighting people.

Lawrence enjoys his job most because of the people he works with meets on a daily basis. The fun and friendly atmosphere in the camp together with the diverse challenges he faces here makes his job interesting.

The thing that gives him the biggest headache is when the weather is not playing ball – big storms through camp that keep him on his toes, and wildly unpredictable conditions which affect the movement of the migration. These are the times he might dream of a conventional desk job, but not for long!

To Lawrence, the key to making someone’s safari a success is in the detail: taking into account people’s varied interests, ages and nationalities to make the trip truly personal.

Babu, Mkombe’s House Host

Tryphone, lovingly known as 'Babu' which means Grandfather in Swahili, has been Mkombe's House Host since it opened its doors in June 2015. An absolute favourite with guests, entertaining them with games and beautiful singing, he loves children and adds the 'home' feel to Mkombe's house. Babu comes from the Morogoro area, but moved to Arusha where he worked for many years as a waiter in Hotels. After struggling for five years without any permanend employment, he joined Nomad working as a waiter. Nearly a deceade later, having impressed Nomad with his endearing character and hard work, he was first in line for Mkombe's House, and has now made it his home.
In his retirement (in the not too distant future) he'll enjoy living at home, farming his rice and maize, and planns on running a small business making soap.

Promise, Kiba Point Selous

Promise has spent most of his life in the bush. His earliest memories are of him as a young child, sleeping in a hut under a lion skin blanket killed by his grandfather – a treasured piece he still has, albeit a little moth eaten and ragged. At age 17, Promise was picked out of a classroom of eager pupils to attend a guiding school on a scholarship for a year in Dar es Salaam. He graduated and passed the highest in the class, so following in his grandfather’s footsteps, he got his first job working as a safari guide in the Selous.

After 3 years of being a guide and accumulating a lot of knowledge, he decided he wanted to be closer to his family, who’s village sits at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro. He quickly found a job as a guide/ porter taking guests (mostly their luggage) up Kilimanjaro. He boasts climbing Kilimanjaro over 30 times!

Missing the bush and tired of wobbly legs he returned to his passion, guiding and worked in the Serengeti as a top guide for three years teaching himself photography along the way. He missed the quietness and calm of the Selous and all its diversity and wanted to come back so in 2017 he joined Nomad and became the manager and guide of Kiba Point.

Michelle, Sand Rivers Selous

Michelle was born and raised in Zambia and learned to love the African bush from a very young age. She went on her first safari when she was 6 and loved every minute of it. Till this day she has many vivid memories of this very important experience. At the age of 10, she started boarding school in South Africa, where she stayed to finish her education.

After school she started working in the advertising industry while completing a degree in photography. Always in search of new challenges she left the advertising world to go trail blazing around the world for 7 years, gathering experiences, photographing and meeting interesting people and learning about different cultures.

With her heart always yearning for the bush she returned to Zambia and started working as a camp manager. After 3 years she moved to Tanzania and worked as a camp manager in many national parks. She has now joined the Nomad family to manage Sand Rivers and explore the magic of the Selous Game Reserve, alongside Julien, and she couldn't be happier, the Selous is a reserve she had always wanted to live and work in.

Fabio & Barbara, Greystoke Mahale

Fabio & Barbara were both born and raised in Germany. At the age of 18 they met and immediately knew they had found their soulmate. Fabio has a background in industrial engineering and Barbara spent half a decade in Barcelona with a fashion company. Eventually they moved back to Germany, but after a few years in the corporate jungle, Fabio and Barbara were seeking to create a more fulfilling life. In 2013 they got married, spent their honeymoon in Botswana, and immediately became captivated by the wild beauty of the African bush. Since then they have been traveling each year to different countries across Eastern Africa.

In 2015 they founded their own NGO called Pencils For Hope, with the aim of giving children in Tanzania a chance at a better education. In collaboration with Nomad Trust, they support Katumbi Village, just a short boat ride from Greystoke Mahale.

In 2017, they decided to follow what had become their biggest dream and moved to Tanzania to start a new life in the bush. They are very passionate about Tanzania’s wildlife, its people and the environment. At Greystoke the pair have settled down into the magical setting that is Mahale, with new found freedoms and the joys of living so close to nature, they are truly in their element.

Mollel, Kuro Tarangire

Mollel is a Maasai from a village in the outskirts of Arusha, Oldonyosambu. His childhood was quite typical to the Maasai culture, and Mollel grew up looking after his father’s cows from when he was just three years old. At age 7 he started primary school and later went on to join secondary school. It was here that Mollel had his first taste of one of Tanzania’s national parks. Mollel and his class had a school trip to Lake Manyara National Park, they enjoyed a mimi safari with a guide from the area. Mollel was so impressed with the guide, and fascinated with his knowledge of wildlife and nature, after the trip was over, Mollel made a beeline for the guide and asked him how he knew all that he did. The guide told Mollel that he studied at Mt Meru College, and so that was exactly where Mollel went when he finished school.

Moody, Sand Rivers Selous

Mohammed Kassim (Moody) was born in Rwanda but shortly after, his parents moved to Arusha where Moody was raised. He has always had a passion for nature and wildlife, and his involvement in the safari business was a natural step. Moody joined Nomad in 2007 as a room attendant with the goal of becoming a guide. Before he could qualify, Moody worked to hone his English skills in the position of waiter. Moody’s dedication and determination paid off as he was selected for the Nomad guide training program in 2011, from which he emerged as a Chada Katavi guide. A couple of years on and Moody was heading up the Chada team - a smiling face and unflappable personality to keep the camp ship-shape. Moody continues to shine and he now oversees all of Nomad's mobile and seasonal tented camps, ensuring they are offering our guests the high standards we expect of them.

Peterson, Lamai Private

Peterson was born and raised in the Kilimanjaro Region of Northern Tanzania. He worked with Sopa lodges for over 9 years, before joining Nomad as a waiter in mid 2013. Since then, he has worked his way up from waiter, to head waiter, to private camp Manager as is currently based at Lamai Private in Northern Serengeti.

Mosongo, Serengeti Safari Camp

Mosongo Olemaji is our camp manager at Serengeti Safari Camp and is a real success story of the Nomad family. Born in the Arusha region and joining Nomad in 2006 as a casual worker, it wasn't long before Mosongo was noticed for his incredible work ethic and never fading smile. He started with us in August in Sand Rivers Selous and by October was promoted to be a waiter. He was in Sand Rivers for a year, before he moved closer to his Maasai home in Piaya where he worked in our tented yurt camp, Nduara Loliondo. He was there right until the camp became Kuro Tarangire, before he moved on to the Serengeti in May 2016 as the head waiter. With ambitions to become a guide Mosongo has attended two of our annual guide training courses, and was delighted to accept the promotion to Camp Manager in May of 2018, and he's doing a stirling job.